Letting Go of Guilt

"A strange thing happened then. The Speaker agreed with her that she had made a mistake that night, and she knew when he said the words that it was true, that his judgment was correct. And yet she felt strangely healed, as if simply speaking her mistake were enough to purge some of the pain of it. For the first time, then, she caught a glimpse of what the power of speaking might be. It wasn't a matter of confession, penance, and absolution, like the priests offered. It was something else entirely. Telling the story of who she was, and then realizing that she was no longer the same person. That she had made a mistake, and the mistake had changed her, and now she would not make the mistake again because she had become someone else, someone less afraid, someone more compassionate" (Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead 212).

I've seen first hand the pain and emotional stagnation of not forgiving ourselves or feeling forgiven. (I can't tell you exactly how I know because it would be a HIPAA violation.) That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is really about - that you can be different than you have been and that you don't have to be burdened with the guilt and regret of your past mistakes.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ takes away the pain and guilt so that we "can find rest unto [our]souls."